California Governor Vetoes High-Efficiency Toilets

California bill AB 2496, which would have mandated toilets using no more than 1.3 gallons (4.9 l) of water per flush (see

EBN

Vol. 15, No. 6), was vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in September 2006. The bill, which had passed through the State Assembly in May 2006, was held up in the Senate by concerns over the addition of waterless urinals until a compromise was reached, adding health and safety mandates to the bill. According to John Koeller, P.E., technical advisor to the California Urban Water Conservation Council, the veto did not come as a total surprise, as the governor is trying to push the regulation into the hands of the State Building Standards Commission. Koeller told

EBN that the bill will likely return in the next legislative session with “important fixture performance items that were not in the current bill.”